ATLANTA -– The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club will play host to the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 24 on ESPN in their home opener as the team begins its season-long celebration of 50 years in Atlanta, the National Basketball Association announced today. Following its $192.5 million transformation, the second-largest in NBA history, Philips Arena re-opens for basketball as two of the top five picks in the 2018 NBA Draft, Trae Young and Luka Doncic, match up.
With much more to be announced as the start of the season draws closer, plans for a year-long tribute to the team’s first five decades in Atlanta already include an extensive community outreach campaign and exclusive digital content.
Prior to the home opener, the Hawks tip off the season at New York on Oct. 17. After visiting Memphis (Oct. 19) and Cleveland (Oct. 21), the team returns home to compete with Dallas and the Chicago Bulls (Oct. 27).
All games will air on the Hawks’ flagship radio station, Entercom Atlanta’s Sportsradio 92-9 The Game, as well as partner stations on the Hawks Radio Network, with “Voice of the Hawks” Steve Holman on the call. The complete regional television schedule on FOX Sports Southeast and the FOX Sports app will be released at a later date.
All of Atlanta’s Monday-through-Saturday home games will feature 7:30 p.m. tip times, with the exception of the home opener on Oct. 24 (7 p.m.), Monday, Jan. 21 vs. Orlando (3 p.m.), Saturday, Feb. 23 vs. Phoenix (7 p.m.), Saturday, Mar. 9 vs. Brooklyn (7 p.m.) and Wednesday, Apr. 10 vs. Indiana (8:00 p.m.). Sunday game times will vary.
The aforementioned Jan. 21 home matchup versus Orlando marks the traditional annual Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday game in the city he called home.
Atlanta Hawks Memberships are available now. Visit hawks.com, text or call 866-715-1500 for more information. Flex Plans, Group and Individual game tickets will go on sale at a later date.
Atlanta faces each Eastern Conference team four times, except for Toronto and Detroit (two home/one road), as well as Brooklyn and Cleveland (one home/two road), and every Western Conference opponent twice. The Hawks play 20-of-41 home games on weekends (five Friday, nine Saturday, six Sunday).
Among the home contests are matchups against defending NBA champion Golden State (Dec. 3), the Los Angeles Lakers (Feb. 12), Boston (Nov. 23 and Jan. 19), Oklahoma City (Jan. 15), Philadelphia (Mar. 23 and Apr. 3) and Houston (Mar. 19).
Atlanta opens with three straight road contests before playing two straight and four-of-six at home. The Hawks have a stretch of seven-of-10 contests in Atlanta between Nov. 19-Dec. 8. The longest road trip of the year is a seven-game run from Jan. 23-Feb. 4, covering Chicago, Portland, the LA Clippers, Sacramento, Utah, Phoenix and Washington. Immediately prior to that trip, Atlanta plays seven consecutive at home between Feb. 7-23.
The Hawks play 12 sets of back-to-backs, including three home/home, three road/home and six road/road. The busiest month of the home schedule is March (10 games), while the Hawks will play nine contests away from home in January.
The first half of the schedule ends following a Feb. 14 home contest vs. New York, and the second half resumes following All-Star Weekend on Feb. 22 against Detroit.